G.H., THE MOTHER, APPELLANT,
v.
DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, ET AL., APPELLEES
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The Florida Third District Court of Appeal reversed a judgment terminating a mother's parental rights because the Department of Children and Families failed to personally serve her with the petition and summons before the advisory hearing, which deprived her of proper notice and an opportunity to be heard.
The final judgment terminating G.H.'s parental rights must be reversed because the Department failed to personally serve G.H. with the petition and summons as required by section 39.801(3) of the Florida Statutes. Without proper personal service, G.H. did not receive the required notice and the trial court lacked authority to treat her absence as consent.
[1] Failure to personally serve a parent with a copy of the petition to terminate parental rights and a summons containing notice of the advisory hearing constitutes error.
[2] A summons for an advisory hearing on a petition to terminate parental rights must specify that failure to personally appear constitutes consent to termination.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Under section 39.801(3)(a), notice of the advisory hearing and a copy of the petition to terminate parental rights must be personally served upon the parents.”
Establishes the mandatory requirement for personal service of the petition and notice before an advisory hearing in parental termination proceedings
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceG.H. is the mother of D.E.B., born January 4, 2016. The Department removed D.E.B. from G.H.'s custody and filed a petition to terminate parental right…
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ON CONFESSION OF ERROR
G.H. is the mother of the minor child, D.E.B., who was born on January 4, 2016. The Department of Children and Families removed D.E.B. from G.H.’s custody and, on May 10, 2017, the Department filed a petition for termination of G.H.’s parental rights as to D.E.B. under section 39.806(l)(b) of the Florida Statutes, based on her purported abandonment of D.E.B. The trial court conducted an advisory hearing on the petition on May 31, 2017, which G.H. did not attend. Based on G.H.’s *762failure to attend the advisory hearing, the trial entered a consent to the termination of G.H.’s parental rights on behalf of G.H. as to D.E.B. See § 39,801(3)(d) of the Florida Statutes (2016) (“If the person served with noticé under this section fails to personally appear at the advisory hearing, the failure to personally appear shall constitute consent for termination of parental rights by the person given notice.”). The trial court entered a Final Judgment of Termination of Parental Rights and Disposition as to the Mother on June 14,2017. G.H. appealed.
Based on the Department’s commendable confession of error, we agree that the final judgment must be reversed because the' .Department failed to personally serve G.H. with: (i). a. copy of the Department’s petition to terminate her parental rights;, and (ii) a summons containing the required notice of the date, time and place of the advisory hearing:on the petition, and specifying that G.H.’s failure to personally appear at the advisory -hearing would constitute G.H.’s consent to the termination of her parental rights of D.E.B. See § 39.801(3), Fla. Stat. (2016); M.J.W. v. Dep’t of Children & Families, 826 So.2d 1038, 1040 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (“Under, section 39.801(3)(a), notice of the advisory hearing and a copy of the petition to terminate parental rights must be personally served upon the parents.”).
Accordingly, we reverse the final judgment terminating G.H.’s parental rights as to D.E.B. and remand so that the Department may personally serve G.H. with both a copy of the petition and a summons in compliance with section 39.801(3),
Reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.